Love Left Behind
by SpencerRea
Summary: Earth has been on the back of their minds for the past three years, yet they've been forbidden from returning. But enough is enough. xxx Or when Lance, Keith, Pidge, and Hunk decided to visit earth against the orders of Shiro and Allura.
1. Chapter 1

**WARNING:**

 **\- This fic takes place before Season 3 and 4. So Blue Paladin Lance and Red Paladin Keith.**

 **\- It's been three years.**

 **I've already planned out the rest of this story and had so much fun writing this first chapter. Let me know what you think! This is also going to be post of Archive Of Our Own**

Xxx

Heavy footsteps carried themselves through the room as a restless paladin wasted away their night. It was no secret that nighttime was all but welcoming to many of the inhabitants on the Altean ship. Some were greeted with horror-filled night mares that left them shaking in fear. Some were wired to work all night and sleep all day. Some were tortured with their thoughts and doubts until they could no longer decipher what was real and what wasn't. And some were haunted with the unknown.

They always said the unknown was the most feared, but Lance had no idea how true that statement was until he was whisked away to fight an intergalactic war against a dominating species. Not until he had no way to know how his family was doing without him.

He had always dreamed of being the hero in the story books, not even necessarily for a pretty girl, but for his family. He wanted to be the one to save them all and bring them the happiness they so desperately needed. No one would ever know, but his families immigration process was all but peaceful. Lance wanted to be the one to make all their hard work and determination worth it by embracing everything his parents had risked so much for him to have. He wanted to provide for them and protect them as his father grew old. He wanted to teach his siblings to ride a bike and protect his younger sister from boys. He wanted to take care of his mother who he knew was going to need a break sooner or later. He wanted to get them out of the rickety old house they were lucky enough to afford. He wanted to make everything better. That is why he joined the Galaxy Garrison.

So why was he hundreds of lightyears away from the very family he wanted to save?

He knew he had a job to do. He was expected to protect and serve for years to come at the expense of his own happiness. He knew what the title of Defenders of the Universe entailed, but it was definitely a hard pill to swallow.

How was he supposed to accept the fact that he likely will never see his family again?

Lance halted his pacing, as the tears he was trying so hard to suppress came flooding out. He couldn't help himself. He knew that he looked weak. He knew if Keith came in he'd likely be humiliated. He knew there wasn't much he could do. Yet he cried. He cried for the family he lost.

Lance crouched down onto the floor as memories of coconut scented candles and butterscotch cookies on summer nights invaded his mind. He could see his shared bedroom with his two brothers. The glow in the dark stars that covered his earth bedroom resembled the terribly cut paper stars he's put together in his current paladin bedroom. His brothers, they were so tiny when he left three years ago. How old were they now? 13 and 15? Or was it 12 and 14?

Had they moved his stuff?

Had they given his younger brothers his hand me downs? Given their financial situation, he hoped they had.

Had his sister had her first kiss?

Did his father finally finish making that go kart his family had been working on?

Did they get to celebrate Christmas with new toys?

How did the first day of school go?

Lance drew in a deep breathe, trying to calm himself. He could feel a headache coming on, and he would much rather go without the incessant pounding for hours. He knew he should stop thinking about the family he should push to the back of his mind, but that was much easier said than done.

He had learned earlier that day that it was the same for Pidge and Hunk. They had all shared their wish to visit their families. But the idea was immediately shot down by Shiro and Allura. The mission at hand was most important, and even though they had held their ground with he Galra for years, there was still the chance that they could strike at any moment.

Lance had been confident that a quick trip back to earth would be fine, just tell their families that they were okay. But Allura and Shiro were adamantly against it. Lance, Hunk, and Pidge were devastated to say the least. The small flicker of hope that Allura of all people would understand wanting to see your family again diminished with her firm rejection.

Everyone tried to reason with them, even Coran who could understand the situation.

" _Please think about it princess. What would you give to see King Alfor again?"_

But she remained by her decision.

Everyone had something to say about the situation, except for one particular hot head who remained silent. At first, Lance was hurt that Keith hadn't tried to help them. But he dropped it as the entire plan fell through with Allura's dismissal. Everyone remained in their quarters for the rest of the day.

Now here Lance was, at what he assumed was around midnight (he was never quite sure in space), wondering why he still tried. Why continue hoping when it hurts you every time? Why dangle a prize in front of your face that you will never reach?

His tears began to die down but not early enough to avoid the thunderous pounds in his head. He sighed as he wiped his running nose on his sleeve. He didn't care how much of a mess he looked, he needed to get rid of this head ache.

Reluctantly, Lance stood slightly hunched. He swayed lightly as his vision darkened for a moment. He closed his eyes and brought his palm to his temple, trying to will the pain away.

 _I need water._

Lance opened his eyes which burned from the amount of tears he'd released. He had cried over his family, but never to this degree.

Pulling on his navy green jacket, Lance made his way to the door. The door opened upon his request allowing him to head to the kitchen in somewhat of a trance. His mind was filled with numb thoughts of his family. He knew he should likely stop thinking about them in ordered to stop his depressing mood. But he had always hoped they'd never stop thinking about him, so how could stop?

Lance pulled out a glass and began filling the cup with water. He was grateful that Alteans used the same water Humans used on earth. He was half expecting some weird green alien juice as their liquid intake. Luckily, water was the universal hydration method even in space.

After filling his cup, Lance began to drink slowly as his mind wandered again. He wasn't sure how long he was in the kitchen before someone found him.

Lance had sat himself on the floor holding his cup between his legs. He was staring off into space when Keith realized he was there.

The red paladin had also came to the kitchen for water. He had done so many times before and ran into the other members. But none of them had ever looked the way Lance did now. He looked terribly sad, and lost. Keith felt a pang in his chest for his friend. He could understand how he felt, yet had no idea how to help him. He wasn't as good at comforting people as Lance could do with everyone else when they got into these moods. He wasn't a problem solver. He was a "shoot first and ask questions later" kind of guy, as Lance would put it. He wasn't equipped for this kind of stuff.

Yet he found himself drawing closer to the boy in the corner of the kitchen.

Lance had yet to noticed his presence, and for a moment Keith considered leaving. But that's not what a good friend does. He learned recently what being a good friend entails from his fellow blue, yellow, and green paladins. They had showed him what a true friend was., how to ask for and accept help. How to support each other.

Lance needed a friend.

Keith approached Lance and kneeled down to his level. Keith was slightly surprised that Lance still wasn't aware he was there.

"Lance?" Keith asked gently which helped Lance snap out of his distant gaze.

It was then that Keith noticed the red rimmed eyes and dark circles.

"Hey," Lance quickly wiped away his remaining tears in order to hide his current mental state.

Keith wasn't really sure what to do after this, the thought of hugging Lance crossed his mind but he didn't quite feel comfortable enough to do that. What else was he supposed to do?

"Um…" Keith stammered as he looked away from Lance's blue eyes, "Are uh… Are you okay?"

Keith internally groaned. Of course he wasn't okay. You just caught him crying!

"Yeah," Lance choked out with crimson shading his cheeks, "Yeah I'm good."

Keith narrowed his eyes,"You're lying."

Keith thought back to earlier in the day. Lance had to be upset about the decisions of Allura and Shiro. Keith couldn't say he blamed him, but part of him was hurt by Lance's outburst. Was he nothing to the blue paladin?

"Why do you care," Lance said a bit harsher than intended. Luckily Keith was used to it.

The dark haired boy looked away in embarrassment, "Because you're my… friend?"

Lance gave Keith an amused look, "You don't seem so sure."

Keith scoffed, "Maybe I'm not."

Keith must be mad about his earlier attempt at visiting earth. Lance sighed. He knew he should apologize. Keith didn't have any family to go home to. The most he had were the social workers that tried to find him a new home every few months. Other than that, this ship and the paladins were as close to home that he had. They were his family. It must have been a stab to the chest to have your whole family beg to leave.

"Keith," Lance began but Keith suddenly stood.

"I'm gonna go," Keith said, sounding like he was holding back tears of his own. His hands shook by his side which Lance could see even in the dark kitchen corner.

Before Keith had a chance to leave, Lance grabbed hold of his trembling hands. Keith attempted to jerk away on instinct but Lance's grasp was firm.

"Please, listen," Lance begged.

Keith truly wanted to listen, but he was terrified. He was terrified of what Lance would say. He was always waiting for the paladins to push him away like every foster family in that past had done to him. He should have seen it coming, maybe then he wouldn't be so heartbroken. Maybe then he wouldn't have attached himself so much.

But something in Lance's ocean blue eyes told him he should stay and listen. Maybe he'd like what he had to say regardless of the looming terror in the back of his mind.

Keith let out a breathe he hadn't noticed he was holding before sitting down diagonally beside Lance in the corner of the kitchen, He didn't say anything, opting to remain quiet and let Lance speak. There was a bit of an awkward silence as both boys attempted to gather their thoughts.

"Listen," Lance began with a shaky voice, "I understand your past. I don't know much but I know enough."

Keith shifted uncomfortably, not liking the attention on him. But Lance offered him a gentle smile which eased his nerves slightly.

"But I do know that you don't have a family to go back to."

The sting in Keiths chest made a feisty return. Memories of screaming and disappointed elders invaded his mind. He almost thought he might break down then and there.

"And I want you to know, know matter what, we're your family."

Keith's eyes widened, almost doubting the words Lance was saying. He knew he and the the younger paladins had grown closer, but he didn't know they had considered him family as well.

"We'll always be your family," Lance said softly, "and I want my family to be yours too."

Keith snapped his gaze to meet Lanes's soft eyes. Words hung at the end of his tongue. He didn't quite understand, but didn't know how to ask. What had Lance meant? Did he mean what he thought he meant?

"What…?" Keith's managed to ask earning him a tiny grin from Lance.

"I want to share my family with you."

This time it was Keith crying in disbelief. For a moment Lance thought he'd made a mistake He'd thought Keith was going to get even more upset. But he decided to take his chances, and encircled Keith into a hug. The red paladin froze, letting the feeling of comfort set it, before accepted the hug graciously.

Xxx

Pidge was sat in her room, attempting to makeshift some kind of connection to earth with the various tools and equipment she had on hand. After Lance had nearly begged Allura and Shiro to allow a trip back to earth, she couldn't get the thought of her family out of her head. With her brother and father missing, she only really had her mother back on earth. She had no way to contact her from the depths of space and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't seem to reach any earth frequencies.

But that didn't stop her from trying. Over and over again. It was nearing 4 AM and Pidge was still hard at work, tapping away at her computer keys in her dimly lit bedroom. She had run through so many lines of code in her newest program to replicate earth telephones and hopefully strengthen the signal enough to make a call or two. She knew how unlikely it was for that to even happen. It was impossible to create something that strong. But she couldn't stand doing nothing.

She barely noticed the sound of her door sliding opening and found it hard to suppress her jolt of surprise when a new voice started speaking.

"You're up again?" Hunk said with a voice that sounded very much awake as he laid a hand on Pidge's relaxing shoulder.

The smaller of the two remained focused on her work. Lately Hunk had taken notice to Pidge's frequent late night ventures on her laptop. He was worried about her, as was everyone else. Lance and Hunk often had to convince her to get some sleep before she wore herself out. But honestly, Hunk didn't have much room to talk. He was up late enough every night to know of her bad habit.

Being in a space war definitely wasn't easy on the mind. Everyone was plagued with nightmares nearly every night. For someone to stumble into the kitchen in the middle of the night with uneasiness was rather normal on the Altean ship. Every death, every sacrifice, were burned into their mind and haunted them every time they had a moment to breathe.

"I see you are too," Pidge responded without breaking eye contact with her screen.

Hunk took a seat in Pidge's empty chair that he inhabited most nights when they couldn't sleep, "Yeah, good observation."

Pidge took a moment to tear her eyes off of her screen to glare at Hunks obvious sarcasm earning her a slight chuckle.

"Anyway," Hunk gulped as he returned to a more serious tone, "How are you feeling? About this morning?"

Pidge avoided answering the question, "What do you mean?"

Hunk knew Pidge was sensitive when it came to talk about family. After losing her brother and father, she was always on a mission to find them. Now with the topic of earth on everyone's mind, her mother must also be weighing on her shoulders too.

"I know you miss her," Hunk said softly.

Pidge halted her typing as tears began to form in her eyes. She thought of family game nights and awkward conversations about boys with her older brother. She thought of hugs from her mom and the smell of freshly cooked bacon on a Saturday morning. She thought of the dozens of fairy lights scattered around her room illuminating her framed photos of her family and awards.

Pidge suppressed a sob which Hunk took as a sign to wrap his arms around her comfortingly.

"I do," She chocked out with tears streaming down her cheeks, "I miss all of them."

She began to feel something wet on the fabric of her sleeve and pieced together than Hunk was also silently crying after she heard his voice, "I do too Pidge."

Pidge grabbed hold of Hunks arm that was wrapped around her front with anger, "Why wont they just let us go?"

Pidge's voice rose slightly as she clenched her teeth. She was pissed, and that was too put it lightly. She was pissed at Shiro and Allura for keeping her from her family. She was pissed at the lions of Voltron for forcing her into the role of Paladin. She was pissed at the Galaxy Garrison for sending her family on a death trip. She was pissed at Zarkon for causing this giant war that kept her tied to a floating castle in space.

But most of all, she was done.

Pidge suddenly stood, letting Hunks arms drop in confusion. The taller boy stood as well with a questions look as he wiped away the tears that still clung to his face, "What's up?"

Pidge, red-eyed and determined, grabbed a bag from her closet and began stuffing it with various clothing items, equipment, and anything else she could stuff inside.

"Uh…" Hunk eyed her curiously, "Pidge?"

"We're going," She said with a shaky but slightly angry voice as she stuffed her Bayard in her bag.

"Going… where?" Hunk asked with a tiny spark of hope that she would say to earth.

As much as he loved Shiro and Allura and respected them as people, he needed to see his parents. He hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye before he was named Defender of the Universe. He needed a chance to explain things. He needed a chance to tell them that he loved them. He needed to taste his mothers meatballs again and laugh with his father again. He yearned for that familiar comfort.

Even as a 20 year old, he missed the childlike affection from his parents. He missed their family bonding moments. And he'd be damned if only two people stood in the way of him seeing the two people that meant the world to him.

"We're going to see our families," Pidge secured her bag over her shoulders looking at Hunk with determination.

Hunk nodded in agreement, not needing any other convincing from the now 18 year old in front of him who had matured quite a bit in the past years. She was definitely feminine and sported her old longer hair in a ponytail from before she was in the Galaxy Garrison with a tomboyish style. She grew a few inches and now stood closer to Keith's height. She was quite the lady, and everyone on the team was grateful she grew up by their side.

Hunk was proud to have her as his friend.

"Alright Katie," Hunk said, with a smile which Pidge grinned back at, "What's the plan?"

Pidge headed towards her door, grabbing her laptop in the process, "You head to your room and get packed. I'm going to find Lance and Keith. I'm willing to bet neither of them are asleep either."

Hunk's face fell slightly at the realization that Pidge was most likely correct. He doubted any of the four youngest Paladins were in a good state.

"Meet me down in the Lion Hangars when you're done," Pidge said while opening the door.

Hunk nodded as he followed her out of her room, heading for his own as the young lady he was just talking to sped down the opposite end of the hallway.

Suddenly Pidge stopped in her tracks and spun around to face Hunks face, "Oh, Hunk?"

The bigger man, who had his long hair pulled back up into a high ponytail, peered over his shoulder at pidge, "Hm?"

"Don't forget your smile."

Hunk Grinned at the smile on Pidge's face. It had become a saying between the four youngest paladins.

 _Don't forget your smile._

 _Don't forget who you are._

 _Don't let them take your humanity._

It means way more than just smile. It was a way of living. And this time it gave Hunk hope to be happier than he's been in the past three years. Hope to believe.

Xxx

Pidge's footsteps echoed through the corridors of the castle as she searched for Keith and Lance. At first she thought it would be easy to find them considering they likely would be awake. She quickly realized that was false when she had no idea where to find them.

Sighing, Pidge halted in the middle of the hallway, "Think Katie," She whispered with closed eyes, "If I were Lance, where would I go?"

Images of the blue paladin rubbing at sleepy eyes as he stumbled to the kitchen in the middle of the night filled her mind, She'd often seemed his trying to soothe his nightmares with a drink of some sort. She had never though to follow up to see if it worked for future use, so she made a mental note to ask him.

The green paladin headed for the kitchen that Lance frequently visited. She began to worry as she became closer to approaching the entrance. What if they decided against it? What if they thought it was a bad idea? What if they prevented her and Hunk from leaving. Pidge stopped, debating going through with this. If they were going to stop her, she wasn't going to risk it. She'd made up her mind, and she wouldn't let anyone stop her.

But then she remembered, it was Lance who brought up visiting earth. She knew how much Lance missed his family. There's no way he would try to stop her, that is if he didn't want to go himself. Finally, she gathered up the courage to continue her trek.

She made it to her destination shortly later and was slightly surprised to see Keith and Lance hugging. Over the past few years the two have definitely come closer, but still put up that rivalry facade. Pidge knew it was all an act for each of them. They both cared for each other dearly. It was clear especially within the past two years when Shiro began distancing from the rest of the paladins. The four youngest had grown close, often relying on each other to stay sane in this war.

So when Keith and Lance's real feelings for each other slipped out, she wasn't surprised but more grateful. Maybe one day they can drop the act all together.

Pidge cleared her throat as she approached the two boys. They both whipped their heads towards the new party with a blush tinging their cheeks.

"Hey there Romeo and Juliet," She smirked as she headed for the pantry to fill up another bag with multiple water bottles and food items.

"Give us a break Pidge," Lance said weak as he stood, helping Keith up in the process.

Her face softened as she surveyed the two boys, or more, men. Lance had definitely leaned out and grew to be nearly a head taller than Keith, who sadly never grew another inch. Lance still had his signature hair cut, just slightly longer. He was beginning to grow stubble again and Pidge hoped to whatever sentient being that he wouldn't let it grow out like he had a few months ago. Keith had remained the most unchanged, only cutting his hair slightly shorter so his mullet wasn't as noticeable.

But it was their facial expressions that caught Pidge's attention. They both seemed sad but content. She didn't press them, not wanting to get into their business, but she could tell they had just had a rather emotional conversation. And she had a likely idea of what the conversation was about.

"So," Lance began as she inspected Pidge's bag of food, "What are you packing for? Another gaming session?"

Pidge shook her head as she looked Lance in the eyes, "I'm leaving."

Lance blinked, stunned for a moment, "Leaving?"

Keith Joined them, standing next to Lance, "Leaving to where?"

Pidge grinned, "Earth."

Both boys eyes widened, but before they could ask anything else, pidge proposed an idea.

"Hunk and I are leaving in a few minutes. Are you coming with?"

With not even a second though, Lance nodded his head vigorously, "I'll help do whatever I can to prepare."

Pidge offered him a kind smile before turning her attention to Keith who still wore a surprised expression. She began to feel her previous worry surface again and hoped her friend wouldn't prove her fear correct. What if Keith tried to stop her?

"Keith?"

Keith swallowed a lump in his throat as he went over the situation. This could land everyone in danger. This whole thing was so risky, and as the oldest at 21, he felt he should be the voice of reason. But seeing how sad Lance was just moments ago, he couldn't bare to see his friends like that again.

Keith was struggling with a mental battle. He clenched and unclenched his fists as he compared various outcomes of this plan. Ultimately he came to the conclusion, if he didn't go then he wouldn't be able to stop them from going without him. And like hell is he going to let the closest people in his leave without him there to make sure they were okay.

"Okay," Keith finally said, "I'll do."

Pidge and Lance broke out a wide smile. All four of them were going back to earth. It was going to happen. With all four of them together, the plan was nearly fool proof.

Xxx

After packing up their belongings along with some food and water, Pidge led Lance and Keith to the lion hangars where Hunk was patiently waiting. As the three entered the room the yellow paladin rose from his seat, clearly a bit nervous as they all were. They were about to disobey orders from Shiro and Allura. The two had become much more harsh and cruel towards the paladins over the past two years regardless of what Coran tried to reason with them, causing the four to close off from them and form their own clique. It was hardest on Keith considering he and Shiro were always so close, but he felt like more of a disappointment to Shiro than a brother.

The thought of disobeying them never crossed their minds because it just wasn't worth the weeks of mental torment they would give. Challenging them Like Lance had with visiting earth was a feat on it's own. God forbid they disagreed.

They felt more like prisoners than paladins.

But they all held focus in their eyes. They were going to do this, and no one will stop them.

PIdge dropped her bags on the floor with the other boy following her. She whipped open her laptop and began typing away. Hunk and Lance looked over her shoulder curiously as Keith stood watch next to Lance.

"So do you have have a plan?" Lance asked, "I think it goes without saying we can't take the lions."

Pidge nodded, "We're going to take a pod. I'm reprogramming one right now so we can conceal our coordinates along with overriding the castles defense system so it doesn't alert anyone."

Lance nodded, "Smart girl."

The younger girl grinned, "What else would you expect?"

"Guys," Keith interrupted their conversation, "We need to hurry this up. It's getting too close to wake up time."

Pidge's grin faded into a firm line as she typed faster. In a matter of minutes, she was slamming her laptop shut and standing to face the three boys behind her.

"All done?" Hunk asked hopefully.

"Yes but we only have five doboshes to leave before the castle defenses are up and running again," Pidge yanked her back pack on her shoulders while grabbing hold of the bag of food and handing it to Hunk, "Let's get going."

Everyone obeyed, grabbing their own bags. The pod they were taking was one Pidge had modified a few weeks ago. Much to Shiro's displeasure, Pidge had added a rocket launcher and a few other things such as cloaking and some special weapons to protect itself. It was perfect.

As they headed to the pod, they all passed their lions with sad eyes. Even though Shiro and Allura had been ruthless, the lions were still ever calming and were probably the only reason the four of them hadn't left sooner. The lions always had a way of soothing their minds when things got too rough. Like when Allura had laid into Lance for screwing up formation in an air show or when Shiro ignored Pidge for a week because she hadn't stayed back during a dangerous mission. The lions knew them better than they knew themselves it seemed.

Knowing they were short on time, each paladin sent a reassuring nudge to the quintessence of their lions. It wasn't much but it's all they had. They all received the same wave of worry and concern from their respective lions but none of them wavered.

Everyone stopped in front of the pod with three minutes left. Wasting no time, Pidge yanked open the top of the pod with a grunt and hoisted herself inside.

"Alright, I'm going to need to be controlling things through my laptop," Pidge settled herself in one of the back seats of the crowded pod with her laptop in hand, "So who's driving?"

"I will," Keith said quickly earning him a glare from Lance. As much as the younger boy would love to argue to show up Keith, his brain told him this was not the time.

The blue paladin accepted the arrangements and took a seat in the passenger seat beside Keith, Hunk behind him. Once the team was set up, they had a minute and 30 seconds before the castle defenses were up and running.

"Alright Pidge," Keith said, grabbing hold of the controls as the ship came to life, "We ready to go?"

After a few clicks on her laptop, a door opened on their right showing the vast emptiness of space. Keith took a deep breathe, preparing himself for everything he was about to get himself into. He thought about how he was going to betray Shiro, the person he once called a brother. He thought back to his time in the Galaxy Garrison with the older man as his idol. He thought to their long nights on the roof as they discussed their lives and everything they missed and hoped for. How could he do that to him?

But looking to his right, he looked into the deep blue eyes of a boy he'd fallen for in the past years. He'd never fully accepted it, nor had he ever let anyone find out about it, but after his brotherly figure disappeared into whatever he could be described as, he had grown closer to the cuban boy beside him. His late night talks with Shiro had turned into late night talks with Lance. Mainly about the war, nothing personal, but when they did speak about life outside of the ship and the war, it felt so natural. Keith loved it.

But he hated the sadness that often clouded Lance's eyes. He hated the way Shiro and Allura had taken charge of them. He hated the way they've lived the past few years. He hated knowing his family wasn't happy.

He was going to do this, to make them happy again.

Keith looked forward and pulled on the controls in his hand, pulling the ship off of the ground. Once the ships was floating in air, he turned to face the door. With 45 seconds left, he turned to face everyone. He didn't need to say anything. He didn't need to ask them if they were sure, if they were ready. They all gave him a nod of approval which he took as the good to go.

Then the ship was speeding through space, away from the castle which held yesterdays sadness. No one spoke, too wrapped up in their own mind. No one shared their emotions, but it wasn't hard to feel it.

They were excited, but terrified. It'd been three years since they'd seen anyone from earth. How did they know everything was still as they thought it was? What if they were forgotten?

"So," Keith said, breaking the silence, "Do we know where we're going? I don't want to pilot us in the opposite direction."

"Yeah just…" Pidge stuck her tongue out of the corner of her closed mouth as she tried to put together some coordinates, "give me a sec."

It took everything in Hunks power not to snicker and call her cute, which he knew would only piss her off. But what else are friends for?

"There!" She cheered as the windowed pod lit up with directions to planet earth, "We should be there in about three quintants."

The three boys groaned at her time estimation.

"Three?" Lance complained as he turned to face Pidge in his seat, "I can't be stuck in a tiny pod for three quintants."

"I gotta agree with Lance," Hunk chimed in, "Is there anyway to speed that up?"

"Guys," Keith added nervously, "There's not much we can do about the timing. We're going to have to take what we can get."

Keith knew that everyone was emotional about visiting earth and was afraid to overstep any boundaries. He never was a people person. But Lance and Hunk both seemed to agree with him as they slunk back into their seats.

"Well," Pidge began typing away again, "If we use that booster I added, then we will be able to get there faster. The only issue is we'd go through fuel rapidly and will need to stop at nearby planets to refill the pod a few times."

"Uh," Hunk pointed his finger in the air, "I think you're also forgetting about when you put one of those boosters in a pod before."

"Yeah, Lance said turning around again, "It nearly blew up Keith and Allura. What if it backfires again?"

"But I survived," Keith said with a grin that Pidge was grateful for.

"Yeah Lance," Pidge crossed her arms with a smug look, "He survived. And besides I thought you two were the ones who wanted to get to earth faster."

"Yeah! If it doesn't turn me into space soup!" Lance exclaimed.

"I think you're forgetting something Mister Lancelot," Keith took enjoyment in the glare the boy shot him, "That was three years ago. Our residential genius has made this upgrade to various other pods that have all been successful. She did this pod just a few weeks ago."

"We'll be fine," Pidge added, trying to sooth Hunk and Lance's worry.

Lance sighed defeated, "Alright alright, you're right."

Keith smiled at Lance's acceptance. He was always a terrible leader, but when Shiro had practically abandoned them as a friend, Keith had taken up the role. It took some time but he got the hang of it. He'd often come up with better plans on missions that, yes, got them in trouble with Shiro and Allura, but they were almost always more efficient. He'd learned how to handle Lance, Hunk, and Pidge in nearly every scenario.

Pidge smiled, "Then our trip will be cut from three quintants to one and half."

"That's better than three," Hunk agreed.

"Then it's settled," Keith looked at his directions that pidge had given him, "We'll engage the booster and stop at the next planet to refuel. Which is… Tyla. Home of the Tylarians."

"Tylarians," Hunk asked with a raised eyebrow, "Aren't they those music fanatics?"

"They sound peaceful," Lance said as he looked at the planets location on the map.

"That's our next stop. Pidge, "Keith attracted Pidge's attention, "Let's get that booster up and running."

"You got it," Pidge said with a devious grin.


	2. Chapter 2

**WARNING: Vulgar language (cussing) will appear in this chapter.**

Xxx

Coran watched from the bridge as the pod holding four paladins of Voltron stormed away from the Altean castle. As prepared as the team usually is, the video feeds for the castle were still intact, and Coran had been expecting something like this.

He had watched from the sidelines as Lance sluggishly made his way to the kitchen. He had witnessed his small make up with Keith and their interruption from Pidge. He had seen Hunk nervously stand in the lion hangars as he prepared to leave with his friends. He smiled proudly as Keith second guessed his decision before finally piloting the four towards where their happiness lied.

And Coran had done nothing to stop it.

He had secretly hoped the young paladins would stick up for themselves, or at least do something to make themselves happy again. Coran had become less of a voice of reason to Princess Allura and more a distant annoyance over the past three years. Once a trusted guidance, now not even a second thought. It had hurt more than a stab to the heart, but Coran was a grown man who could handle himself. He knew the princess would come around in time once she'd realized she was in the wrong.

It was when she and the black paladin had began shoving disinterest on their team mates that Coran became more vocal about the issue. Often times, pointing out the two on their faults when they wouldn't listen to reason. He'd try to tell them to calm their harsh words or simply try listening, yet it was only getting worse.

First he saw Pidge close off. The green paladin wasn't really close to anyone, her search for her missing family always took first priority. But then her desires to rescue her most likely dead family became too much of a hassle for the two leaders of Voltron. When she stoped sharing her opinions, Coran had noticed. When she began sleeping less and less, when she barely touched her plates of food, when she became sluggish in training, Coran noticed. That was the first push.

Then it was Hunk. He was normally the first to always point out bad ideas, which were a natural occurrence. But when Hunk's worries were cast aside only to be proven correct in battle, the yellow paladin began to lose his trust in the people he once looked up to. That was when scattered mixing bowls and used utensils appeared in the early hours of the morning. That was when Coran noticed another young paladin spending the night awake. That was the second push.

Next it was Lance. The happy-go-lucky teen had slowly disappeared into practically nothing. He was like a hollow shell trying to imitate some form of himself in the past only to be pushed away for only being what he thought his true self was. And it certainty wasn't fooling Coran. The boy was losing himself and only seemed to get it back every time he engaged Keith in some time of recognizable fight, often ending with both of them scolded harshly. That was the third push.

Keith, surprisingly the last one, was a slow process. Always usually untrusting and cold towards others. The one person he'd even allowed himself to get close too was Shiro who was the one pushing him away. To have your one support system throw you to the side was not only heart breaking to feel, but to watch. Then Keith began to suffer in battle. Fear began to overcome his mind more than instinct. He was afraid to take risks in fear that the last thread of a bond he and Shiro had would fray away from his inability to follow set directions. That had been the last push.

They had been formed and molded to fit an impossible shape by Allura and Shiro's cold words and harsh punishments. They had shaved away their personality and and smoothed away their dents of unique qualities no one else possessed. They became pieces of a game to be moved around as if replaceable.

Pidge's defiance.

Hunk's caution.

Lance's humor.

Keith's strength.

It was all being taken away.

Coran had enough.

He was grateful the younger paladins had formed their own bond and had managed not to lose their own sense of who they were. He began to see sparks of their true colors peak out from the mask they'd created when they were together.

He saw Lance take Pidge to bed when she had finally passed out from exhaustion, and he could have sworn he didn't see the blue paladin leave her room until the next morning.

He had seen Hunk make something similar to pancakes from earth and brought the fluffy food to his friends in the morning to convince them to wake up to another day.

He had seen Pidge creating a program to replicate the clear blue skies of earth onto the black white of ceilings of their bedrooms.

He had seen Keith give the his fellow paladins pats on the back for work well done, something Shiro had been lacking in.

And he couldn't bare to see these kids who he'd seen grow up too fast lose anymore of themselves due to the mistreatment of two people.

"Please," Coran spoke out to the stars, "Keep them safe. Give me strength to fix this, King Alfor."

Xxx

After a few hours of flying with the booster, the planet of Tyla came into view. Keith sighed in relief that the planet was so close. He had been worried about running out of fuel for past few miles, and there was a mysterious light that had popped up about 10 minutes before that gave Keith a bad feeling.

Behind him, Hunk and Pidge were playing a game on the girls laptop that had both of their attention. They started about two hours ago and hadn't stopped. It must be a good game to keep them entertained for so long.

Keith couldn't help looking beside him to take in the sleeping boy with his head hanging down to his chest. Keith felt his lips curl upwards. Lance was finally able to get some rest.

As Keith entered the atmosphere of the planet, both Pidge and Hunk abandoned their game to look over the shoulders of Keith and Lance. The landscape was stunning, with brightly colored plants that look like fluffy trees and bushes. It reminded Hunk of cotton candy.

"We're here," Keith said as he maneuvered the ship towards the ground.

The ship settled just outside a small town in the forrest of pinks and blues. The paladins looked on in wonder at just how amazing the the sight was. The entire sight looked like a landscape of candy, with licorice vines and soda pop ponds. If Pidge was desperate enough, she might have mistook the forrest for a buffet.

Keith unbuckled his seatbelt and turned towards the back seats, stretching his torso in the process, "We need to pick up some fuel, and get out of here as soon as possible. I don't want anyone here recognizing us."

Hunk nodded as she and Pidge both unbuckled their own seatbelts, "That would immediately give away our location."

Lance shuffled in his sleep beside Keith which made him lower his voice in consideration for his sleeping friend, "Can you guys handle getting the fuel? I need to check the engine on the pod to make sure it's good to go for another few Vargas."

"Sure thing," Pidge said digging through her bag.

The green paladin pulled out some of the money Coran had given her for their last trip at the space mall along with a small device that Hunk and Keith looked at with curiosity.

"What's that for?"Hunk asked as he inspected the item in the girls hand that looked similarly to a cell phone.

"I was talking to Lance a few weeks ago about earth," everyone smiled sadly at the mention of their home planet, "and we decided to try to replicate from earth technology. This," she said as she raised the object in her hand, "is basically like a self phone. It can text and call, only to the other cellphone which Lance has at the moment, and take pictures."

The boys smiled in amusement as Pidge showed them the various test text messages between her and Lance during their creation process, "Since he's asleep, I want to take pictures of the planet so he can see it too."

Hunk patted the girl on the back, "That's a great idea."

Hunk and Pidge exited the pod with Keith following, careful not to wake Lance. They all stood on a purple ground with light green plants looking like grass beginning to poke through. Through the slits in the trees, the team could see lingering aliens with pink skin heading to and from shops. The species that inhabited the planet were known for being extremely beautiful in body and voice. They loved music and often had it playing at all times. It was a major part of their culture.

After stepping outside, Pidge pulled down the sleeves of her green sweatshirt, "Holy shit it's cold!"

"Try not to stay out there too long," Keith warned as he opened the back hatch to look at the over heated engine, "There was some type of warning light that turned out about 10 doboshes ago and I have a feeling it has to do with the engine. I might end up needing Hunk's help."

"You could ask Lance while I'm gone," Hunk suggested, but looked regretful as he glanced over at the sleeping boy.

"I would but I don't really want to wake him," Keith responded, "I don't think he's had a decent nights sleep in a long time."

"If he's lucky enough to fall asleep then I don't want to take it from him," Pidge said as she turned to the town with her hood covering her face, "We'll make it quick."

Pidge began walking towards the town as Keith nodded to Hunk to follow. The bigger boy gave a small smile back as he pulled up his own yellow hood to hide his face. Once they were a good distance away, Keith allowed himself to tear his gaze away from his friends. He regretted not being able to join them but someone needed to stay with the pod and the person sleeping inside. He trusted Pidge and Hunk, but his paranoia got the best of him when he imagined someone managing to notice their distinct features that nearly everyone in the galaxy had come to know belong to the paladins of Voltron.

They couldn't afford to come so far only to be discovered so soon.

As Keith examined the engine he could tell it was clearly over heated, likely due to the thrusters Pidge installed being in use for too long. The only solution he could think of to prevent this is to only use the thrusters in small increments. But how could to cool down the engine now so they could take off again was a mystery.

As Keith stared into the hatch trying to come up with a solution, he heard the sound of the pod opening, then he heard the footsteps. Worry filled his mind as his chest constricted. Thousands of possibilities flashed through his consciousness.

 _Someone is ransacking us._

 _Shiro and Allura have found us._

 _Pidge and Hunk forgot something._

Keith closed the hatch to the engine, silently stepping to the edge of the pod. Peering around the side, Keith was relieved only to see Lance facing away from him.

The red paladin sighed with relief, "Jeeze Lance, you scared…" Keith lost his words as Lance turned to face him. He almost looked like he didn't see Keith, looking right through him.

He only had a moment to realize what was happening. He hadn't time to prepare. Suddenly he was on the ground with the cuban boy who had his hands wrapped around Keith's neck with wild, terrified eyes.

Xxx

Hunk and Pidge stared in awe at the town they were walking through. The whole planet was beautiful, even the shops were brightly colored with detail. The fountains spurted out various shades of blue goo that looked almost like water, or jello, Hunk couldn't quite tell.

They kept their hoods up as they walked side by side, keeping their gaze downwards towards the map they had gathered.

"Okay so the equivalent to a gas station should be to the right at that next crossing," Hunk determined.

Pidge nodded quickly, "Yeah, and guess what's right next door?"

Hunk leaned into Pidge's space a bit more to take a look at the map, "Hm? What is it?"

The girl looked up to her friend with a devious grin, "A shop dedicated to Earth items."

Hunk looked at her quizzically, "Earth? Why here?"

Pidge shrugged her shoulders as both her and Hunk turned right, "My guess is with Voltron being universally known by now, everyone knows about the Human paladins from Earth."

Hunk brought his hands to his chin as he thought, "So now everyone is fanatic about Earth things?"

"Basically," Pidge said as she halted in front of their destination, "Alright let's get some fuel."

Both wanted to get in and out as quick as possible, paying for a few gallons of fuel, and exiting without anyone getting a glimpse of their faces. They'd gathered a few weird looks, considering they were covered head to toe, but they shook it off.

By the time they both made it back outside, only five minutes had passed.

"Alright," Pidge said and she checked the time, "I say we have some time to check out the earth shop."

It didn't take much to convince Hunk to go with her.

As they entered, the nostalgia hit them like a brick. Where as the other shops in the town had a look and feel distinct to the planet with bright colors and candy looking scenery, this shop looked and felt like they were walking into Earth.

Hunk never thought he'd miss dully colored carpet and cramped shelves so much. It was obvious this store was trying to replicate Earth's culture as best as possible, and Pidge couldn't help but realize they'd gathered most of their replications off of an Earth store called Game Stop.

The two glanced around, taking interest in the movies they's watched as children that they hadn't been able to find anywhere. Hunk picked up a copy of Forest Gump while Pidge grabbed a series collection of Friends. They even grabbed The Princess Bride for Lance and Karate Kid for Keith.

Pidge had to really resist the urge to buy all of the Super Mario games.

As they got closer to the back of the store, something caught Hunks eye. The back wall was covered in images he knew all too well. There were posters of a giant robot. Black, red, green, blue, and yellow lions forming Voltron. There were giant images of himself, standing next to yellow, with a dull smile. He could spot Pidge's own candid poster next his. Lance's near the other end with Keith's. Shiro's own in the center.

He remembered this. The photo shoot to help spread their image. The photoshoot no one but Shiro wanted to take part of. The photoshoot that took place as the Galra attacked a neighboring planet. The photoshoot that caused them to be late to the scene ending with many innocent lives dead.

Yet the people cheered.

They _cheered._

They _praised_ them.

They were crowned heroes and put on a pedestal when they were late.

They could have saved so many more lives.

But they were late.

Because of a damn _photoshoot._

"Are you finding everything okay?" Hunk was jostled from his thoughts as he faced one of the pink aliens that inhabited the planet.

Hunk cleared his throat attempting to clear his throat, "Yeah! Yeah, just… looking."

The Tylarian, who Hunk presumed male, admired the posters Hunk stood in front of, "They're really neat huh? Voltron, Defender of the Universe."

Hunk couldn't help but cringe. Neat? They were barely managing to stay sane.

"Yeah," Hunk chocked out, "Pretty cool."

"I even have a signed copy if you're interested. I got the blue paladin to sign one, almost got the red one's too."

Hunk shook his head, "Nah I don't have the money right now, but thanks anyway."

Hunk shot him his a smile as he turned to leave, but stopped when he heard the gasp.

"You're…" The Tylarian began as he stuttered his sentence, "t-the yellow…"

Hunk eyes widened. He'd blown it, "Nope! Gotta go!"

Hunk dashed towards the exit, grabbing Pidge in the process. He held their purchased fuel in one hand and the tiny female between his side and arm.

"Hunk! Put me down! What's going on!"

Hunk didn't stop as he turned corners and ran through confused crowded. He hoped to god the guy thought he was imagining things. He hoped Voltron wouldn't hear of it. He hoped he hadn't screwed everything up.

Hunk didn't slow down until he'd made it into the cotton candy looking forest. Setting pidge down, he finally caught his breath. His eyes were wide with fear at what he might have just done.

Pidge stared at him with worry, "Hunk?"

The yellow paladin took a few more deep breathes, "He recognized me."

It didn't take any more explanation for Pidge to understand. She gave him an understanding nod, "Alright, we should head out of here fast."

Both headed towards the ship where Keith and Lance were in a haste.

Xxx

Keith struggled under the hold of Lance's hands, secretly surprised with the boys strength. He'd been at this end of Lance's anger before, but only during training. It seemed to slip his mind that Lance was likely going easy on him in fear of actually injuring him.

But he could tell by looking in Lance's eyes that this wasn't really Lance, not the Lance they all knew. This Lance was terrified, and losing it fast.

Keith tightened his hands around Lances white knuckles, trying to pry them off of his neck so he didn't lose the ability to breath. Lance's eyes were wide as his pupils dashed around his vision.

"Where are they?!" Lance's voice sounded strained.

Keith managed to loosen Lance's grip slightly enough to breath but still remained trapped under the boys hold.

"Where's who?"

Lance's scoffed, as he looked at Keith but still seemingly not really seeing him, "Don't play dumb with me Galra."

Keith felt the pain through his chest once again as the spite in Lance's voice the blade deeper. He thought they were done with this. He thought everyone was done with this. He thought everyone had accepted his heritage and moved on.

He couldn't help the tears that tried to surface.

"Lance stop it!" Keith shouted.

"Not until you tell me where they are!"

Keith groaned in irritation,"Where who are, god damn it!?"

"What do you mean who?!" Lance's eyes turned even darker if that was even possible.

Then Keith began to fear for his life.

The red paladin, for the first time in what felt like forever, reacted on instinct, not quite thinking through the situation. He threw all of his weight up and around to ram Lance's body into the ground. This time Keith was on top, attempting to grab hold of Lance hands making their way towards Keith's burning neck once more.

"Give them back you fucking purple skinned bastard!"

Keith managed to pin Lance's hands firmly into the ground, but that didn't stop him from trying to break out of the grasp. Keith held his knees on Lance's elbows and sat himself on the boys stomach.

"Who?! Give who back?!"

"My friends! Keith! Hunk! Pidge!"

 _What?_

"Lance, I'm right here! I'm Keith!"

Lance's eyes darted around, still not seeing Keith. It was then that Keith realized what was going on.

"Lance, you're dreaming!"

Lance grunted as he fought Keith's hold. He let out a tiny sob that broke Keith's heart. The boy was fighting so hard against a Galra in his mind for his friends. He never knew he meant that much to him.

"Lance, please," Keith began speaking softly, "I'm right here. _I'm_ Keith."

Lance's fighting began to die down as his eyes became more focused. He blinked a few times as he stilled under Keith's grasp. Finally, Lance looked at Keith, and actually saw the boy on top of him.

"Keith?"

The older boy let out a nervous laugh before pulling Lance into a hug. He could resist the urge to hold the boy close, for just a minute. He was happy to feel Lance encircle him as well.

"What happened?" Lance whispered in Keith's shoulder.

"You were dreaming. It was a nightmare," one that Keith felt might have happened quite frequently.

Lance's body tensed, "I'm sorry."

"Hey," Keith let go of their hold so he could look at Lance as he spoke, "That's not your fault. You can't control it."

Lance nodded, but gasped when he saw the darkening marks on Keith's neck, "Did I… hurt you?"

Keith's hand instinctively went to lightly touch his neck, "It's not bad. Don't worry about it."

But he could already see Lance blaming himself. He could practically feel the self hatred radiating off his friend.

"Lance, it's okay. Really."

He know Lance wouldn't accepted his words right away. He'd likely hold it against himself for a long time, no matter what Keith said. But he would do anything he could to help the boy he was falling for. He'd help him forgive himself.

Before either of them had a chance to say much else, Pidge and Hunk came barreling into the small clearing the pod had landed in. Hunk immediately went to refill the fuel as Pidge carelessly threw their bags in to the pod.

"We, need to go. _Now._ "

Keith and Lance didn't waste any time entering the Pod again. Each member buckled up, as Keith pulled the pod off of the planet's purple ground. In a matter of minutes the pod was back into space. Only then did Keith begin to question the other two.

"Did something happen?"

Hunk sighed, "I got recognized."

Keith cursed under his breathe, "Hopefully it won't get to Voltron. And if it does, hopefully it takes some time."

He heard Hunk murmur some kind of response but couldn't ask him what he said before Pidge gasped, "Keith what the hell happened to your neck?"

He could see Lance curling in on himself as he glared at his shoes. Keith's heart ached at seeing the boy so upset. He wished he had more time to talk to him about the incident, but figured he would want to do that privately.

Keith gave a silent sign to Pidge to drop it, which thankfully she did.

"Okay," Keith began, "So we can't use the thrusters as much as before, so our trip as gone up to 2 quintents. Which is still better than 3."

He heard sounds of understanding from behind him, but silence from besides him. This was going to be a long ride.

Xxx

When Shiro awoke to silence in the castle, we wasn't surprised. The castle was meant to be quiet. When he entered the kitchen and saw no one there, he wasn't surprised. No one had attended a family meal in over a year. When he approached the bridge and only saw Allura, he wasn't surprised. He didn't normally see the team until training.

It was after Allura had announced over the castle comm system for every paladin to head to the training center that Shiro was surprised.

It was when even after 20 minutes, no one showed up, that he got mad.

It was after Allura had called each paladin individually that she got furious.

It was when they stormed through the castle looking for everyone when Shiro felt panic begin to form in his chest.

It was when they found out about the missing pod that that panic was replaced with unrelenting anger.

"Coran!" Allura shouted down hallways as she searched anywhere for the missing Paladins, "Have you seen the Paladins?!"

"Hm?" Coran exited one of the rooms down the hallway the Princess happened to be searching.

"The Paladins, Coran! Where are they?!" Allura grabbed at her hair in frustration.

She and Shiro had attempted to track the missing pod, but to no avail. They couldn't even begin to imagine where the four could be. They're hope that they had just decided to blow off training had diminished the later into the day it got. Allura had went to find Coran to ask if he had seen the Paladins anywhere, but even finding him became a challenge.

"The Paladins?" Coran asked again, "You mean the four other members of the Voltron team."

Allura, beginning to get annoyed with her advisor, snapped at his sarcastic tone, "Yes Coran! The red, blue, green, and yellow paladins!"

"Oh, you mean Keith, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk?"

Allura paused for a moment, trying process his words, before returning to her anger, "Yes! Have you seen them?!"

Coran swiftly turned away from the princess, walking away with no answer to the questions. The princess clenched her fists as she stormed up to the red headed Altean. Her hands grabbed his shoulder as she forced him to face her.

Coran was suddenly face to face with a red faced monster, "Answer me this instant! You know something!"

Coran remained calm as he removed her hand from his shoulder, "You had to think about it."

Allura, beginning to tire of his act, threw her hands in the air, "Please Coran, just give me a straight answer!"

Coran glared at the Princess in front of him who he once thought to be the most thoughtful woman in the land, "You had to _think_ about their _names_."

And then he left, leaving a confused princess in his path.

Xxx

 **If you enjoyed this chapter please leave me a comment! You have no idea how much it helps :)**


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